Best of MLB: Matthew Boyd falls an out short of no-hitter in Tigers' win over White Sox

Best of MLB: Matthew Boyd falls an out short of no-hitter in Tigers' win over White Sox

DETROIT -- Matthew Boyd's no-hit bid ended when Tim Anderson doubled with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Detroit left-hander closed out a 12-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday for the first nine-inning complete game of his professional career.

Boyd (6-10) allowed only two runners -- a walk to Rob Brantly in the third and Anderson's double to the gap in right-center field with two outs in the ninth. He threw a career-high 121 pitches and struck out five.

The 26-year-old had not thrown a complete game in 52 previous major league starts and had never thrown a nine-inning complete game in 121 previous professional starts.

Miami's Edinson Volquez has the only no-hitter in the majors this year, against Arizona on June 3 (see full recap).

Astros clinch AL West with win over MarinersHOUSTON -- Justin Verlander struck out 10 batters over seven innings in his first home start for Houston while Derek Fisher and Marwin Gonzalez homered in a big fifth inning as the Astros clinched the American League West with a 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday for their first division title since 2001.

George Springer and Carlos Correa also homered for the Astros, who won their first division title since 2001 and seventh overall. The Astros become the first team in Major League Baseball history to win titles in three divisions after previously winning the NL West and NL Central.

Verlander (13-8) retired his first seven batters before Ben Gamel homered into the right-center bullpen in the third. He allowed just two singles after that to improve to 3-0 since he was acquired from Detroit on Aug. 31.

Jason Heyward gets big hit as Cubs sweep CardinalsCHICAGO -- Jason Heyward hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two out in the seventh, and the Chicago Cubs swept the St. Louis Cardinals with a 4-3 victory on Sunday.

Ben Zobrist drove in two runs and Kyle Schwarber hit his 27th homer as the NL Central-leading Cubs closed out a 6-3 homestand with their sixth consecutive victory. They stayed four games ahead of Milwaukee and increased their advantage over third-place St. Louis to six games.

Pedro Strop (5-4) worked a rocky seventh for the win and Wade Davis got three outs for his 31st save in 31 chances. Dexter Fowler flied out to the warning track in center with a runner on first to end the game.

The Cardinals trailed 3-0 before Fowler hit a tying three-run homer off Jose Quintana with two out in the sixth, silencing the crowd of 37,242 on a warm, sunny day at Wrigley Field. The inning began with a double for Matt Carpenter that eluded a lunging Schwarber in left (see full recap).

David Price returns in Red Sox's loss to RaysST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- David Price returned from a nearly two-month layoff by pitching two hitless innings for the Boston Red Sox in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner was activated Thursday and pitched for the first time since July 22 after being sidelined by left elbow inflammation. He struck out two in his first relief appearance since 2010.

Jake Odorizzi (9-8) gave up one hit in six innings and the Rays salvaged the finale of a three-game series. Jesus Sucre's solo home run off Eduardo Rodriguez regained the lead for Tampa Bay in the sixth inning after Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for the only hit off Odorizzi.

It was the sixth home run for Sucre and the 17th for Bradley.

Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the sixth, having given up only a first-inning walk to Dustin Pedroia. He had retired 14 straight when he walked Brock Holt to lead off the sixth. Bradley's two-run homer followed on a 3-2 pitch, tying the game 2-2.

Rodriguez (5-6) took the loss for the Red Sox, who opened the day three games in front of the Yankees in the AL East (see full recap).

Minnesota trailed 5-0 in the second inning after Josh Donaldson's second homer. Rosario and Byron Buxton hit consecutive homers to start the Twins' rally as Minnesota burst ahead with a seven-run bottom half that included Jorge Polanco's tiebreaking RBI grounder. Minnesota pulled away with six runs in the fifth against reliever Chris Rowley.

Minnesota began the day one game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the second wild card and closed within four games of the Yankees heading into a three-game series at New York that starts Monday (see full recap).

Best of MLB: Indians tie AL record with 20th straight win

Best of MLB: Indians tie AL record with 20th straight win

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians share a record with a team celebrated by Hollywood.

"Moneyball" has its sequel.

Following a familiar script of scoring first, playing strong defense and riding dominant pitching, the Indians extended their winning streak to 20 games and matched the AL mark held by the 2002 Oakland Athletics, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Cleveland's streak, which began on Aug. 24 in Boston, is tied for the majors' second-longest in 82 years -- and the Indians show no signs of stopping.

Corey Kluber (16-4) strengthened his Cy Young Award case with a four-hitter as Cleveland joined the 2002 A's, 1935 Chicago Cubs (21) and 1916 New York Giants (26) as the only teams to win at least 20 in a row (see full recap).

Gonzalez homers twice as Rockies win 6th straightPHOENIX -- Carlos Gonzalez, heating up for the stretch run after a subpar season at the plate, homered twice and the Colorado Rockies won their sixth game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Tuesday night to tighten the race for the National League's top wild card.

Gonzalez drove in all four Colorado runs in his first multihomer game since Aug. 16 last year and is batting .451 (14 for 31) in September.

Jon Gray (8-4) gave up two runs and scattered seven hits over seven solid innings, striking out 10 with no walks and a hit batter for the Rockies, who won their eighth straight road game to pull within three games of Arizona for the first NL wild card.

Gray matched the season high for strikeouts he set in a win at Arizona on June 30. Chris Rusin got two outs for his second save (see full recap).

Twins club season-high 7 homers in routMINNEAPOLIS -- Jason Castro homered twice, Brian Dozier was a double from the cycle and the Minnesota Twins pounded the San Diego Padres 16-0 on Tuesday night.

Minnesota hit a season-high seven home runs, setting a Target Field record for most homers in a game, to back another strong start from Kyle Gibson. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Twins set a major league record by homering in each of the first seven innings with Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas adding to the total.

Gibson (10-10) pitched six innings with four hits and six strikeouts. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five straight starts for Minnesota, which maintained its hold on the second wild card spot in the American League (see full recap).

Best of MLB: Indians crush Tigers to reach 19 straight wins

Best of MLB: Indians crush Tigers to reach 19 straight wins

CLEVELAND -- Unrelenting and unbeatable at the moment, the Cleveland Indians refuse to lose.

With their latest overpowering win, they extended baseball's longest winning streak since 2002 to 19 games with an 11-0 blowout of the Detroit Tigers on Monday night to move closer to a record that has stood for 101 years.

Francisco Lindor tripled home three runs off rookie Myles Jaye (0-1) in the second inning, and the Indians, who haven't lost since Aug. 23, added another blowout to their growing list of lopsided conquests.

The defending AL champions aren't just rolling, they're steamrolling opponents, outscoring them 132-32 during a stretch that includes six shutouts.

Carlos Carrasco (15-6) struck out nine in six innings, Lindor had four RBIs and Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer as the Indians lowered their magic number to clinch the Central to six (see full recap).

Yanks top Rays in opener of series moved to Citi Field NEW YORK -- In the start of a series moved from Florida to Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma, Todd Frazier capitalized on Trevor Plouffe's two-out error with a three-run homer in a five-run fourth inning that led the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Monday night.

David Robertson (8-2) pitched a career-high 2 2/3 innings to win in relief of CC Sabathia, removed with two on and one out in the fifth.

Opening a stretch that has 17 of their final 20 games in New York, the Yankees closed within three games of Boston in the AL East and opened a four-game lead over Minnesota for the top AL wild card. The Rays dropped four games behind the Twins with 17 remaining (see full recap).

Speedy DeShields helps Rangers edge MarinersARLINGTON, Texas -- Delino DeShields homered after taking a speedier trip around the bases for an earlier run as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series matching teams still hoping to get one of the AL's two wild cards.

Cole Hamels (10-3) struck out seven in six innings to win for the first time in his last four starts.

DeShields reached on a one-out bunt single in the second, when he was initially called out before a replay challenge overturned the call. DeShields then raced home from first on Shin-Soo Choo's two-run double that made it 4-1, running through a stop sign from fill-in third-base coach Jason Wood and scoring on a nifty headfirst slide.

Two innings later, DeShields hit his fifth homer.

Alex Claudio worked a perfect ninth to get his eighth save in 12 chances for the Rangers (72-71), who got within two games of idle Minnesota for the American League's second wild-card spot. Seattle (71-73) is 3 1/2 games back.

Mariners starter Ariel Miranda (8-7) allowed gave up six hits and walked three in only 1 2-3 innings (see full recap).